


Companions

by LaFrae



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:47:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24250822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaFrae/pseuds/LaFrae
Summary: Harry had to part from Ron and Hermione in order to cover more ground in their search for more of Voldemort's horcruxes across Britain. Though he's not alone as he's accompanied by Tonks after she saved the trio in their encounter with snatchers thanks to her metamorphic abilities. Now the two try to live out in muggle Britain as quietly as they can in their horcrux hunt, but Tonks hates quiet and loves being playful. Much to Harry's dismay...
Relationships: Harry Potter & Nymphadora Tonks, Harry Potter/Nymphadora Tonks
Comments: 1
Kudos: 60





	Companions

It was a chilly afternoon. It often only snowed in the evening around these parts, glittering blankets of white all over where there would have been green or brown. The birds had long left, leaving but the sounds of water in the creek nearby, crashing against the rocks.

A blue streak shot from the tip of a holly wand, colliding with the bark of the tree he’d been practising on, but as per usual, the effect was unsatisfactory.

“Again!”

Without hesitation, he obeyed, casting the piercing curse once again. Another blue streak erupted from the wand and slammed into the bark, sending a few more splinters around.

Underwhelming, for lack of a better word. The spellcrafter had designed the curse to pierce, much like a bullet. The lethality depended on the caster’s control of said curse, whether they wanted to kill, or just wound without fatalities. Most would argue that was where spells like the disarming charm or stupefying charm would be perfect for, but not for a specific division in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. They seldom have a need for classroom spells when confronting genuine threats in Dark Wizards.

The Chosen One hurled another blue streak at the tree, and when results proved to be mediocre once more, he hunched over, placing his palms on his knees and heaved.

“Bloody hell.”

Non-verbally casting a level 4 curse for half an hour caught up to Harry quicker than he would have liked. Magical exertion was nothing new, but failure to control a spell properly could cause draining more from the core. Something he had been doing for the past two days.

“Growing tired on me, are ya?” A woman chimed, her footsteps closing on him as she trampled on leaves and branches.

Harry raised his head to look over to his companion, her long, raven hair swinging to brush against his own mop as she stopped right before him. Pushing himself to straighten his back, he looked at her with tired eyes.

“Did you struggle like this when Moody trained you, Tonks?”

She grinned and replied

“I’ll tell you once you get it down.” Tonks walked around him so she was standing right behind him, out of sight. When he made to follow her with his emeralds, she jabbed him in the back with her fingers.

“Eyes forward, I’m not your eye candy,” she teased. Harry rolled his eyes and groaned at her response, having grown used to her antics a little quicker than he had initially thought he would when she arrived.

It had been quite a while since the trio got their first Horcrux, the locket. Their luck fell through just two days later with a messy confrontation with a group of snatchers.

The last thing the trio expected was for one snatcher to turn on their own, putting an end to the conflict almost as soon as it started. That individual was none other than Nymphadora Tonks, using her metamorphic abilities to enact unconventional strategies to aid the war effort. An approach that Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody thought up when he was training her. It was a shame that he died before she could make him proud once more.

With the trio, now a foursome, in the middle of the forest surrounded by the bodies of snatchers, they spent the night coming up with a plan. The plan was to split up: Hermione and Ron take the Horcrux and head North to Glasgow, to search for a way to destroy it with the help of a retired Auror. While Harry and Tonks would stay in Central England to search for the next Horcrux, training him all she could along the way.

Ron was the first to speak praise for the plan, the Horcrux damaging his rationality as he grew uneasy of Harry and Hermione’s closeness.

That was a week ago.

“Terbreya!” Harry shouted with a swirl and jab of his wand. At his beckoning, a flash sent a blue streak surging at the tree. The force upon impact didn’t just penetrate the tree through and through to the next two trees behind it, it trembled before cracking behind it and falling.

It was results like this that graded the Piercing Curse a level 4A by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. A standing for adaptable thanks to its capability of piercing like a needle or like a cannonball. Gruesome in the wrong hands.

He felt Tonks peek around his shoulder at the destruction, at which she gave an askew purse of her lips.

“I appreciate you showing off to this lady, but we’re practising non-verbal. Now try again.”

Harry hadn’t any intent to show off to her, he just wanted to remind himself that he could cast the curse because he could feel his self-confidence wavering with every failure.

“You don’t have any way to help me out here?” Moaned Harry, exhausted.

“How did you learn to non-verbal cast a stunner and disarmer?” Tonks shot back.

“Practice and more practice.” Tonks remained silent with his answer and let him figure out what she was telling him. He raised his wand once again and returned to work.

It was a little painful for her, watching him overexert himself for a curse that would make him a threat on the battlefield. He couldn’t stand up to death eaters with the spell kit he had, so he needed something, anything to tilt the scales in his favour.

The curse was quicker to cast, faster to travel, and more effective than any other combat spell he knew.

The Auror realised, from standing behind him, the way he had his footing, his movements, all seemed too patient. Not lazy, or tired, but patient. Too patient.

It reminded her of herself.

She took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders, getting up from the tree she was leaning on. It was time for her to get into mentor mode.

“Willpower in casting.”

“Pardon?” Harry asked, halting his next cast, not even trying to look over his shoulder.

“Willpower,” she repeated, closing the distance between them. “You treat magic so much like a blessing that you practically ask it to work rather than will it to work yourself.”

It made sense in a way he hadn’t expected. Being raised by the Dursley’s, where magic was a sin, only to then be set free by it. It was a blessing to him. He nodded while eying her movements without moving his head.

“There’s such thing as being too patient, Harry,” Tonks said as she traced his shoulder all the way down his wand arm to his hand with her own. The situation was all too bizarre for him, but he tried his very best to stay focused because she was just beginning to make sense.

At Harry’s hand, she guided it until it became outstretched and poised, ready to cast. Releasing him, she hovered her hand over his, just mere centimetres away from each other.

“Cast the curse.”

Snapping to attention, he kept his eyes forward as he only now realised he was staring. Following the wand movements, a slight swirl and jab with your palm facing upwards upon finality.

But as he threw the curse out, he touched her hand with his own, something he could only assume was bad in this test.

“Don’t touch my hand,” Tonks enunciated. Harry fell back in line and went to cast the spell again, touching her hand once more. When he looked at her, she was stoic, not expressing disappointment or annoyance. Failing in front of a mentor is the fear of any student. Contrary to most teachers, Tonks displayed none of the responses that would elicit that fear.

She wanted him to learn something.

_I have to make this work. I can_ _’t touch, but I can move. I have to will it to work_...Harry thought to himself. He looked up from his wand and straightened his posture once again.

Instead of casting with wand movements alone, he leaned back to give the swirl some distance so that his hand wouldn’t touch hers, and jabbed with a follow through, the word “Terbreya” echoing in his mind.

The force alone that erupted from his wand was enough to shock both of them. There was a slight, visible blowback of air when the blue streak flew like a bullet from his wand into the new tree he was aiming at.

Like a miracle, it pierced through and through. No archaic after effect, or weak splash on the bark. A balanced and clean piercing curse.

“here’s more to spell-casting then just words and wand movements,” came Tonks, breaking the silence with a proud smile, “Let’s head back.”  
  


* * *

  
“You’re a good teacher,” said Harry, shrugging to shift his coat from its uncomfortable position as they walked the snowy sidewalk down Streatley, a small village by the River Thames in Berkshire.

Tonks selected this town a few days ago because of its insignificance. She was sure that they wouldn’t be found here, nor would anyone be searching here.

Having split up from Hermione and her fantastical purse containing camping gear, Tonks and Harry had to look towards more muggle means of lodgings.

“What’s this all of the sudden?”

“I’ve learnt more from you than I ever did from Binn’s class,” he joked, sparking a laugh between the two.

“Well, if that ghost is your basis for teaching, then that’s a problem in itself.”

They stopped right outside a door with a sign swinging above it. The snow has taken much of the text, so Harry drew his wand to give it quick cleansing charm, revealing the name, The Charred Wanderer, with the words “Inn & Pub” below it.

When Harry holstered his wand, his eyes fell upon his companion, whose hair was amid changing from its raven black to a dirty blonde shade.

Giving him a nod, Harry led the way through the thick inn door, pushing it wide open to hold it open for her as he enters.

“Ah Sarah, James, welcome back. How’re you finding Streatley?” The barman called, lowering the volume on the radio by his side on the countertop.

‘ _James_ ’ brought his fingers to his eyelids to brush the melting snow and looked towards the barman, who was wiping the inside of a mug with a rag. His thoughts went to how unusual it was that whenever he entered a pub, the bartender was cleaning something or other.

“Wonderfully pleasant as per usual,” ‘ _Sarah_ ’ came as she tucked her blonde curl over her ear.

“Quiet evening, Stanton?” James asked, helping Sarah out of her coat.

“It’s the weather I’m tellin ya,” Stanton went with a chuckle, placing the mug down and walking over to the taps.

“Thank you, sweetie,” Sarah thanked as she adjusted her sleeves, then heading for one of the open booths.

“I’ll bring over your usual,” Stanton said, pulling on the lever to fill the first mug.

“Thanks, mate,” James pulled off his own coat before sliding onto the seats across from her. A few moments later, Stanton came by with a wooden beer mug in each hand, filled to the near brim.

When he left, Harry’s eyes wandered to the other patrons, some of which were looking towards them, specifically Tonks, creating a sickening feeling in his stomach.

“You’d think I’d get used to people eying my girlfriend?” Harry joked, returning his eyes to hers, which were a shade of grey this time.

“Sounds like someone’s enjoying this cover,” teased Tonks, leaning forward with her elbows folded on the table.

“Can’t say I’m not,” Harry shot back with his sorry attempt of a counter-tease.

“How could you not, having such a bombshell for a girl,” Tonks bragged, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. Harry responded with a roll of his eyes and took a swig from his mug. Thanks to his companion sitting in front of him, he grew to enjoy the beverage. Though he made a habit of drinking in moderation, unlike her.

The pair continued to drink and chat about the town, wary to keep their tongues off of anything magical. As safe of a place as this may appear, the risk wasn’t worth it, especially for the Chosen One.

“I struggled more than you when he was teaching me,” Tonks said, placing her mug on the table.

“What?”

“What,” she mocked, “It takes people weeks to learn that curse. You did it in two days. They don’t call you the One-who-was-Chosen for nothing, huh?”

Harry scoffed before taking another sip.

Finishing their drinks, and refusing to allow Tonks to get herself hammered, the couple waved at Stanton as they ascended up the staircase to retire to their room.

Closing the door behind them, Harry hung their coats on the hanger in the corner while Tonks ducked into the bathroom. He shed his shirt and tossed it in the basket by the desk, leaving him in only a short-sleeved vest.

He let his back crash against the comforters of the king-sized bed. Harry had only ever stayed at one other inn, The Leaky Cauldron, and he would claim every day of the week that this small village, muggle inn had more comfortable beds than the Cauldron.

Hearing the shower start running, Harry groaned and sat up, knowing he’d be alone for a while. He walked over to the desk, pulled his wand out and aimed it at the face.

“Revelio.”

The charm worked like a charm, revealing the parchments and papers that Tonks and Harry had gone over the night before. It was information regarding Malfoy Manor: maps, floor plans, assumed security, wards, anything and everything.

The last place they wanted to be was Malfoy Manor, but it was the place they had to be because they needed to know where the next Horcrux was.

After a night of discussion, using the information and memories Dumbledore shared with him, they concluded that it was most likely Helga Hufflepuff’s cup. Tonks was already in possession of this information as it was heavily implied, but never outright proven. She was lucky that she kept it with her when she was pulling all-nighters on work.

The plan was elaborate, but involved infiltrating the manor, getting the information they needed, and escaping. Stealth was in the intended approach, but there was always contingency should it not go that way.

“James!” His companion sang from the bathroom with the door ajar.

“Yeah?”

“Could you be a dear and grab me a towel?” She asked with an innocent tone. Harry, thinking nothing of it, groaned and walked to the wardrobe. Pulling a fresh towel out, he walked over to the bathroom door, learning it was ajar as he closed in.

“Here,” he called out, holding the towel out near the open door.

“I’m dripping, could you just come here?”

Harry gulped.

Nearing the door until he stood right in front of the crack, he stuck the towel through with an outstretched arm. Then, after an eye wandered in the wrong direction, catching a glimpse of Tonks’ hip, swung his head to the left. Feeling the towel leave his fingertips, he retracted his hand and released his breath, only now realising how long he’s been holding it.

“Thanks babe,” she teased, elongating each word.

“Unbelievable,” mumbled a defeated Harry Potter, stepping towards the table.

He wasn’t let off without consequence as images flashed through the young man’s mind, inciting a stomp of frustration. He doesn’t have a photographic memory, but he shouldn’t, for an accident, have remembered the glossy look of her skin, droplets of water falling down her curves, all from her hip alone. If his eyes ever wandered higher...

**_Clap!_ **

After a hard slap across his own face, the stinging brought him back to reality.

Hoping it was enough to get his hormones in check, he pulled the chair from under the desk and took a seat, deciding to go over the contingency plans once more, seeing as it was a productive means of distracting himself.

He wondered about his capabilities in firefights, now that Tonks was helping to hone his magical and physical prowess. She was tight-lipped about it, but he realised she was not a normal Auror. She was Mad-Eye Moody’s star student. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if he groomed her for something else.

There were rumours that Mad-Eye ran a separate, secret, more ruthless sector of the Department of Law Enforcement. But rumours were just rumours...

Deep in his thoughts, a pair of hands found their landing on his shoulders, thumbs pressing against the back of his neck before descending. As arms came to wrap around neck and lazed on his chest, the voice of the culprit whispered into his ear, making the hair on the back of his neck stand.

“Something stressing you?” Her voice trilled in his ears, making him shiver, but he refused to lose composure. He gritted his teeth and tried his best to not let it get to him. How could he be the chosen one if he falters to something like this, he thought.

Harry felt the edge of the towel press against the lower part of the back of his neck. Her bosom blatantly pressing against him that caused both nervousness and pleasure to him with softness rivalling that of a pillow. A lot of the chat he heard about women we’re making more and more sense...

Harry slammed the table with the palms of his hands to push himself onto his feet, shocking his companion who had been wrapped around him, forcing her to untangle and back up.

“Tonks...” Harry warned.

“Hey now...” she came with what sounded like fear. A tone Harry had never heard leave her lips before.

He refused to face her, knowing exactly what he’d see. And the last thing he needs right now is to trip over his words. Keeping his eyes forward at the wallpaper, he continued with a dark undertone.

“We all have limits. The last thing you want is to make me reach mine,” Harry walked over to the window, his eyes sure to avoid the centre of the room, “I may not be him, but I still have the darkness I get from him...”

The silence hung in the air for a minute until Harry broke the silence.

“I’m going to bed.”

Did the teasing go too far? Did he go too far? The mixture of both guilt and confusion made him want to tear his hair out. He couldn’t stay mad at someone who’s only done right by him, brought light during a bleak time. Gave him hope...

When he thought about it, he couldn’t understand why he lost his cool at all. Most boys would be head over heels for a girl like her, more for a girl as flamboyant as her. He wasn’t loyal to another girl or anything. He reached the conclusion that his relationship with Ginny was a mistake long ago.

With loyalty out of the question, was it embarrassment? He went through six years of Hogwarts as Harry Potter and under Professor Snape. Shame wasn’t the issue. Dignity? Pride?

Harry wanted to be strong for others, so to do that he needed to be strong for himself.

He chuckled, recalling his best friend Hermione saying something along the lines of “Too noble for your own good”. Nobility. The reality of the situation was nobility. Harry often didn’t think about it, leaping-without-thinking becoming something of a speciality of his over the years. He felt lost without his best friends’ input.

_Maybe it was for the best. I need to learn to think on my own_...Harry thought.

He turned onto his back, raising his arm from over his head to look up at the ceiling. As he was turning, he caught a glimpse of his companion, who had slipped into the bed while he was thinking. Turning to face her, she had her back to him, at the far end of the King-sized bed, almost at the hanging off the edge.

Watching her like that, curled up at the edge of the bed, trying her best to give him as much space as possible. What he feared more than that was that while lost in his own thoughts, she was crying at the other end of the bed, and he didn’t even notice. Such a view made him want to curse himself.

_If guilt was water in a dam_...

Her hair was black, her natural hair colour, and she was wearing her usual nightwear: a tank top and underwear. Nothing abnormal, Harry was sure. Past all the teasing and bubbly attitude, she was still a woman with feelings.

_And I hurt her_...

He trembled at the thought of being close to someone else. Even more so to have a relationship with anyone at a time like this. Anyone who gives a crap about him ends up on announced on the list on Potterwatch.

_Is it worth it? Going the distance to push her away?_

_Fuck, maybe I_ _’ll just find the courage and talk about it_...Harry concluded. He felt immature for not even thinking about talking about it.

“Hey...” Harry called. He knew she wasn’t asleep. There was a distinct lack of comfort and unease in her breathing. With the silence coming as a response, he tried again, “Nymphadora...”

“You know...you’re not the only one who’s scared,” she croaked, her voice spilling for the first time since his outburst, “I still haven’t heard anything from my parents...”

Harry scooted over to the middle of the bed and reached over to put his hand on her shoulder. At the contact, she twitched, which made him react and retract before settling back on her.

He made sure every one of his gestures was soft, slow and gentle. The last thing he wanted was for Tonks to run, not now.

“Come here,” he called, his voice as gentle as he could make it, “Please.”

Pulling on her shoulder, she came to roll over onto her back then towards him, into his chest. He recovered from the contact and wrapped his arm around her, holding her head to his chest as he felt her tremble.

She cried into his chest, and Harry did his best to comfort and console her. He didn’t think he would have hurt her this much, but because he did...

“I’m sorry...I’m sorry...” He apologised, stroking her black hair.

They continued in the tight embrace for a while until her tears stopped, but she never moved to detach from him.

“I was just scared,” Harry confessed, “not of you, but for you.”

Tonks shifted a little to hear him better.

“I love spending time with you. There isn’t anyone else I would want for a companion,” he paused to take a breath, “You taught me so much. You make me smile and laugh. Even as a cover — I can’t lie — I love being James Harrison, just as long as you’re Sarah Lancaster right there with me.”

Then he pulled away a little to brush the bangs off her eyes and looked at her thoughtfully.

“Which is why I’m terrified of even considering doing anything to put you in any more danger than you’re already in.” Hoping his words reached her, he relaxed his head on the pillow. “Plus, it’s hard to tell if you feel anything for me with all the teasing.”

“I’m not leading you on...” she mumbled, having turned to stuff half of her lips into the pillow.

“What?”

She rolled forwards into him, pushing him onto his back so she could lay on his chest.

“It’s fun and all, teasing you, Harry. But all of this...I don’t do for just anyone...” Tonks said, drawing circles on his chest with her free hand while she rested her head on him.

“What are you saying?” Asked Harry, placing his arm around her.

“I may be an Auror, but I’m still a woman...” She let her hand lay flat on his chest while shifting her head to look up at his emerald eyes. “A woman who likes a man...”

Tonks could feel her eyes tearing up, so she looked back down to avoid his eyes that were reflecting beautifully in the moonlight.

Shutting her eyes, she hid in his chest, refusing to allow him to see her in this state.

“Maybe I use teasing to show you...to get that feeling...of not being so...alone...”

It fell quiet between them. Only only subtle movements were their breathing as their chests pushed and pulled from one another. Close enough for their hearts to feel each other beat...

“You don’t have to act anymore...” Said Harry, stroking her hair once more.

“If you want me to stop, then I’ll stop...” Tonks came, trying her very best to keep her voice from quaking.

Harry chuckled as he craned his head to whisper to her.

“I never said stop.”

Tonks quivered as his warm breath reached her. She looked up at him, her eyes wet, but instead of shining with sadness, was glowing with uncertainty and hope.

“Are you-“

“I think it was wrong of me to think for you...we’re both adults, and we can decide what we want for each other,” Harry spilled, only now noticing how wise his words were as they left his mouth.

“You’re saying-“

“I’m saying I want to try.”

Tonks’ hand curled with his shirt wrapped with it. She couldn’t break the eye contact because she felt like if she looked away, it would fade away like a dream...

“After all, I’m just a man who likes a woman. A strong woman whose beauty never wavers no matter what face she chooses or what shade her hair is. I’m just lucky to call that woman my companion too.”

**Author's Note:**

> AO3 has one of the most aggravating text-upload systems I've ever used. Since I use single-space, it makes the breaks between paragraphs look so big. The easiest way to fix it is to just paste it in the HTML section, but that removes all of the formatting. So I have to upload it into the RTF section, preview, copy the HTML with the shitty long paragraph breaks, paste it into Word, replace all those breaks with the replace tool in Word, then paste it into HTML. So needlessly stupid. Anyways here's the story.


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